So far, Harlow's #watermelondress was on both Inside Edition and Kelly and Ryan Live. Mazzy was like, "Wait! What about MY watermelon dress???" She's right. The pink fringe cap sleeve is an excellent addition. Still think #babymeloning is the better hashtag!

Everybody is smiling and looking at camera! I just posted my latest travel vlog which follows our three day road trip in Central New York! It rained a lot but we still had tons of fun. Don't miss Harlow dancing like a robot and Mazzy talking "duck." I think this is my favorite travel video so far. YouTube link in bio!

She's getting her hair cut today. I was going to leave work and meet her and our sitter there but I'm too swamped. It's the first time she's getting a cut without me. Fingers crossed they don't chop it all off or give her faux hawk!

If you don't already know, "a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios with milk" has replaced Harlow's waffle obsession. She asks for it every single morning, in those words exactly. If I were to say, "Harlow, do you want a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios?" She would say, "Yes, WITH MILK." Also, ever since Harlow and I made that video about how to make cereal (link in bio- FYI, the longer YouTube version is even better than the one I put on Insta), Harlow has been really into making her own breakfast in the morning. Her and Mazzy have even taken our cereal orders at night and then pre-set the table with our names written on the napkins. Then they instruct us to stay in bed until everything is ready. It's actually some of the few times we've been able to sit down to breakfast all together as a family at the dining room table. Thanks @cheerios for helping make the mornings easier this summer! #generalmillscereal #sponsored

All the Best Tips & Tricks for Awesome Instagram Stories

I am a diehard Snapchat fan. I’ve been an avid user for almost three years and have a really awesome engaged following there. I love how raw it is and how I don’t have to put that much thought into it. I was super pissed at Instagram when they ripped Snapchat off. Instagram Stories made everything more complicated and to be honest, doing both has definitely put a dent into my blogging time.

But. After using both every day for awhile now, I have to admit something…

Instagram stories is better.

It’s got better colors, better fonts, better markers and more possibilities. It’s easier to use. Way more people watch them. And I love that it doesn’t have to be created in real time, so I can be present in a moment with my kids, and then take the time to put together a thought-out curated story with gifs and captions LATER, after the kids have gone to bed.

This is why, when you watch my stories, they are often on a 12 hour delay.

Since I’ve been spending more time on Instagram stories, a ton of people have reached out to ask me how I created certain things. Like rainbow type, which I recently learned at Alt Summit from a person who works at Instagram. It’s impossible to explain in words and I can’t do an Instagram story about something I am doing on my phone, so I decided to create an Instagram tutorial.

Some of the things I go through are pretty basic, but I’m sure you’ll learn how to do a few new things as well— like text only pics, playing with photo layers and drowning Zac Morris.

Hope this is helpful!

If you’d like see my daily Instagram stories, follow me on @mommyshorts.

Let me know in the comments below what you like and don’t like on Instagram stories— whether it’s in general or on my account specifically. And if you know any tips or tricks that I didn’t include in the video, please tell me that too!

Super helpful! I always get confused on the multiple text posts on Instagram where a new layer of text is added in each slide. I would love to see a tutorial for that or is it just as simple as screenshotting (is that a word?)
Love all your posts!

This tutorial is unbelievably helpful. I use stories more than posting photos on my feed now. I knew the basics but most everything after the rainbow type was new to me. The removal of giphys was a bummer though. I was just starting to have fun with those.

I showed this to my college social media strategies students and they loved it! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. They want to know- how did you split the screen to show your phone in real time in the video?

There is a written rule in the Official Blogger Handbook that says you must close out the year with your ten most popular posts. I can't find the handbook at the moment to show you, but I assure you, it exists and this rule is etched in stone.

We’re on vacation! Not only are we starting off with excellent weather, we got a good shot taken by Mike on the very first night! Thanks, Daddy Shorts. 🙌🏻 First full day in paradise is on my story! #mommyshortsinmexico

There’s a new sculpture in Astor Place that broke my heart. It is called The Last Three. It’s 17 feet tall and represents the last three northern white rhinos on earth. Their names are Sudan, Nijan, and Fatu. Sudan is the last male. He is 45, which is the life expectancy for a rhino. His daughter is Nijan and his granddaughter is Fatu. Rhino horns are worth a ton of money so they are in constant threat of poachers. This public piece of art was created by artists Gillie and Marc with the hope of educating and inspiring others to care about the plight of the rhinos. It worked on me. Their aim is to collect 1 million goodbye messages on www.goodbyerhinos.org and put them towards a petition for approaching governments about eliminating the demand for rhino horns. Please like, comment and tag your friends to get this seen by as many people as possible and feel free to regram and share! 😥 #goodbyerhinos

New York is still freezing so instead of doing our usual ski trip in March, we decided to switch things up and go somewhere much warmer. Not sure when I’ll post on my feed, but you can follow along on my Instagram stories...🌴☀️🥝👙🦎⛱⛵️✈️🍹🤸‍♂️😎 #comingsoon

Sometimes I look at my Instagram account and think— man, this feed really needs some adults. Who is running this thing??? And because I know everyone is going to ask where @littlemissparty got her dress, I already asked. It’s vintage. She bought it when she was 19. Sucks for the rest of us! I got my shirt at Aritzia. Thanks for asking 🤣 Have you guys watched our Instagram lives together? I like doing it so much better with a friend! We are on a two week break because our schedules are all crazy but will do it again after that. What would you guys want us to talk about? Any questions for two NYC working moms???

Harlow has a very important message for everyone. Brought to you by Super Why, I think. Also, this impromptu performance was 100% because Harlow noticed me upping my intake of fruits and vegetables this week. 🍎🍌🥕💪🏻 #harlowunplugged #eathealthy